"As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of the opportunity provided to serve self-interest when Al Gore created the internet; and we should also thank Mark Zuckerburg and Jack Dorsey for creating Facebook and Twitter out of the kindness of their big hearts and not the thinness of their small wallets."

-Ben Franklin, Autobiography (1742)

Friday, May 25, 2012

The Seven Prophecies of John Adams

John Adams, second President of the United States of America, is widely respected by history for his shrewd political theories and unshakable dedication to the growth of the young American dream. He is less well known for his fascinating if not downright uncanny knack for predicting the future.

Beginning in his late childhood and continuing throughout his adult life, Adams' was often recorded as interjecting strange prophetic statements into everyday conversation. Sources say he would could be talking about anything at any time and then suddenly launch into a series of quick, pointed statements about a completely unrelated subject that nearly always halted the conversation. In his early years, these occurrences were disregarded as being caused by a short attention span and lack of social grace (two traits Adams was also known for) but thanks to his political years during which his conversations were recorded and quoted more often for posterity, historians have been able to pinpoint trends in this strange behavior. In truth, all evidence points to John Adams being one of American history's most powerful clairvoyants.

Careful analysis indicates that Adams predicted some of the most important as well as some of the most trivial events in history, from the independence and rise of the United States to the cancellation of "Are you there, Chelsea?" after just one miserable season. Though there have been countless supposed predictions, many of which are rumored to be fakes from Adams' impersonators, there are seven statements made between the years 1756 and 1799 that historians collectively dub "The Seven Prophecies of John Adams." These seven statements, all of which are included below and many of which have already come true, provide real insight into the secret life of our mysterious second President:

The Seven Prophecies of John Adams

"This country will be a free and independent nation, unshackled from the chains of any who came before it." - spoken in 1756, while commenting on the juicy quality of a dinner ham.

"We will one day carry the world in the pockets of our trousers." - spoken in 1764 to a confused waitress in a Philadelphia tavern, who promptly slapped him for impropriety.

"The first woman President will be the one to colonize the moon." - spoken in 1768 to Benjamin Franklin during an argument over who should pay for breakfast.

"North wins." - spoken in 1771 in his sleep as recorded by his wife.

"English will be the most respectable language in the world and the most universally read and spoken in the next century, if not before the end of this one." - spoken in 1780 to a cobbler in Boston while purchasing a new pair of shoes.

"There will be a book of faces and everyone will read it for free. When the opportunity arises to purchase the book, it will not be worth as much as everyone thought it would be." - shouted from a outhouse while visiting his childhood home in 1784

"The men with the red socks will triumph in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004, 2006, 2013, and 202." - spoken in 1798 during a congressional taxation debate.

As we always say here at Lost and Founders, if you want to know the future, you just need to look at the past.